09/22/2009

Mark Angeli, the bees go missing

What is it about those magical biodynamic properties?
I don't really consider myself a believer but there is no doubt that those who feel this stuff deeply, like Mark Angeli, have vineyards that exude the spiritual. Mark Angeli's Ferme de la Sansonniere is such a place. I had the feeling I could curl up in the well plowed earth and stay there forever. Flowers scents spice the air, even in February. As we passed his beehives he told us of the decline in the population over the winter. "It's not because of a virus," he explained, "it's because of the cell towers. There's a new cell tower here, and ever since, our bee population has been cut in half."
"The bees are lost," Mark Angeli said.
This is not the first time I would hear this during my visit last February. Obviously I was reluctant to take out my cell phone during the visit. And I was likewise terribly self-conscious pulling out the Flip.
His vineyards, many very densely planted, at over 4,000 vines per hectare, are bisected by the road. Up the hill, the wine is fierce, not as fierce as the south but pretty zippy, " I want vineyards where the wind can go through them."
Every time I meet this man I am struck by his resemblance to the square-jawed Lawrence Olivier. He talked of yield being the key to the complexity of his wines. "It's not chemical or organic or biodynamic, the key to great wine is the proper yield," he said. "This is why there are still bad wines that are made organically."
He plows only with a horse. "I don't want the smell of petrol, and they don't get stuck or break down.
As a biodynamic producer, Mark is concerned with cutting down the use of copper, the only justifiably controversial addition in the vineyard as it can be quite harmful to the environment. He says he buys Labicuper from Spain, and as a result uses 3x's less copper than previously.
His winery, just near his house, in a garage, with a few old basket presses. He tells us he is going to stop making his red wine until his vines, which are only six years old, grow up. In the mean time, the red will go into his highly acclaimed no-sulfur, sweetish rosé, Rose d'un Jour, extremely popular especially in Japan.
The red wine which we tasted, was as usual, a mouth full of tannins, yet with a violet creme aspect.
The 2007 La Lune is chenin, pure waterfall and exotic. Gorgeous. This ia made from three different parcels, and the younger vines.
Les Fouchards, drawn from the vines where we walked, on the hillside, was austere and full of fennel. and made me happy with the tart, dancing acidity, a mouthwatering festival dripping on stone.
--A

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I'm hunting the Leon Trotskys, the Philip Roths, the Chaucers and the Edith Whartons of the wine world. I want them natural and most of all, I want them to speak the truth even if we argue. With this messiah thing going on, I'm trying to swell the ranks of those who crave the differences in each vintage, celebrate nuance and desire wines that make them think, laugh, and feel. Welcome.

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